Proposed bill would increase PPP access for small farms

Lawmakers are trying to increase access to the Paycheck Protection Program for family farms, many of which have had trouble getting meaningful loans from the program.

The proposed bill, introduced by Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, would make changes to PPP loan calculations to allow self-employed farmers and ranchers to apply for bigger loans based on their gross income.

It would apply retroactively to March 2020, so those who have already received loans could still benefit by getting a loan for the difference between the gross and net income loan amounts.

According to Baldwin, loans were originally based on either payroll or net profits from the previous year. But many small family farms don’t maintain a payroll, and many farms, especially dairy farms, had a string of difficult years that didn’t yield net profits, Feedstuffs reports. Baldwin noted that one farm she heard from received an $80 loan—”not a meaningful infusion to get them through the tough times exacerbated by the pandemic,” she said.